Beautiful Outlaw (3 page)

“Bowie, man, I need your help.”

The sound of the voice on the other end causes me to sit up straighter.  It’s the voice of someone I rarely talk to, but think about all the fuckin’ time.   “Lock, that you?”

He lets out a bark of laughter, before replying.  “I haven’t been called that since I left the sandbox.  I’m a civilian, or as close as I can get; it’s just Jeremy now.”

Fuck that, he’ll always be Lock to me.  He is one of two men I call brother, even though they don’t wear a Savage Outlaw MC patch.  Lock, Shooter, and I were in basic training together.  Luckily, we were shipped out in the same unit. Then, we served in the Army together for nine years, fighting side by side more times than I can count. When we got out, I returned to the Outlaws.  Shooter went home to his woman but ended up finding a club of his own, the Hellions.  Lock joined the police force.  We all live different lifestyles, but it didn’t end our friendship. 

“What do you need, Lock?”

He’s quiet for a minute, before letting out a deep breath.  “It’s Laura.”

“What the fuck?” I ask, as I swing my legs over the side of the bed and grab my jeans from the floor.  “What the hell happened to her?”

I’ve never met his sister, but I feel like I’ve known her for years.  During endless hours melting under the desert sun, we would shoot the shit.  I talked about the club, Shooter talked about his girl back home, and Lock told us all about his family.  Laura, his little sister, was the main topic of conversation most of the time.

At first, I listened to him talk about her just to cut through the boredom.  That all changed when he showed me a picture of her.  She was a little over seventeen and hot as fuck.  From that point on, I absorbed every word he had to say about her.  To him, she was his little sister. To me, she was prime spank bank material for the lonely nights. 

“Shit, man.  Her husband, he’s a damn nutcase.”

That’s nothing new.  The bastard married her when she was barely eighteen, and he was in his forties. Lock, Shooter, and I were still in Iraq at the time.  I don’t know much about their marriage, other than Lock’s stories stopped soon after and I never saw another picture of her again.  Pulling on my pants, I bend down and grab my boots.  “What did he do?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Tugging a boot on, I respond.  “Try me.”

“I don’t have time, Bowie.  I will, but not right now.” He says, sounding like he’s about to break. 

Grabbing a tee from the dresser, I pull it over my head then grab my cutt off the back of the closet door.  “Just tell me what I can do to help.”

Most people, I would be telling to kiss my ass.  I don’t get in other people’s shit; I have enough problems of my own with my fucked up father trying to run the Outlaws into the ground.  But for Lock and his sister, I would do anything they need. 

He’s quiet for a minute, long enough for me to pull out a Marlboro and place it between my lips.  “Brother, you know I’m here for you, so tell me what you need me to do.”

“I want you to take care of my sister for me; I need you to get her somewhere safe.  Hide her somewhere that crazy bastard can’t find her, until I can get this shit straightened out.” He finally answers, his voice filled with anguish.

“What the fuck, man?  Is she hurt?”  Just imagining some motherfucker putting his hands on her has me mad as hell.  The feeling has nothing to do with my dreams of her; instead, it’s all about the pain it’s causing my brother.

“No, Bowie.  Not the way you’re thinking, at least.”

Growing up with a bastard for a father, I have a pretty good idea of what he means.  Cash never laid a hand on any of his women, but the fact that he had more than one in his bed at a time caused a hell of a lot of pain.  “I’ll take care of her.”

“Do you have someplace safe that she can go?”

I’m about to tell him that I’ll take her to Nina’s, when I notice Domino’s panties laying near the edge of the bed. They’re light blue, so shear they’re nearly see through. They looked fuckin’ amazing on her, but I bet they would look even better on Laura.  I stare at them for a second more, before a slow smile spreads across my face. Yeah, I’ll keep her somewhere safe, in my bed. Unlike her husband, she’ll be the only one in it, until she is gone.

“Yeah, I have somewhere for her.” I state, still smiling.  “You bringing her to me or you want me to come get her?”

“I need you to get her.  I’m putting her on a bus, in a couple of hours.  She should reach Madisonville around midnight tonight. Can you pick her up?”

“Why the hell are you sending her there? I don’t mind the ride; it isn’t that far, a little more than two hours, but why the hell don’t you have her come into Owensboro?”

He sucks in a deep breath, letting me know how nervous he is.  “Madisonville is far enough away from you and the club that her husband will have a hell of a time tracking her to you.”

For the first time since we started talking, I feel a tingle of real unease about the situation.  It sounds like there may be more to this story than just her husband getting his rocks off with someone else. “Is it that bad?  Should I be expecting this dickhead to show up at the door?”

“I hope the hell not.” He says, before lowering his voice to continue.  “If he does, everything she has done will be for nothing.  Her whole life will be wasted.”

What the hell?  “Man, I think you need to tell me what the fuck is going on.”

I hear the sound of a car door opening, just before it slams shut again.  “I really don’t have time.  I only have a few hours to get her shit sorted and head out of town.  I’ll call you later and fill you in.”

Shoving my wallet in my back pocket, I start to wonder what the hell I’m getting my ass into.  “Just tell me, do you think this bastard will cause trouble?”

“Not if he doesn’t find out she’s alive.”

His words stop me dead in my tracks.  “What the fuck, man?”

Before he can answer, I hear a feminine voice in the background.  I can only guess it is his sister, when I hear him ask if she’s ready.  They talk for a minute more before he asks, “Will you be there to pick her up?”

Finally lighting my cigarette, I pull in a long draw.  “Yeah, but I need a little more information than just Madisonville, around midnight.”

“She’ll be at the Greyhound station at 11:55.” He’s silent for a moment, before he continues in a hushed tone.  “She has red hair now; she looks nothing like she used to.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” He answers, still in a near whisper. 

Well shit… there went my fantasy, but it sounds like I need to be more concerned with her safety than getting my dick wet.  “I’ll be there, Lock.”

“Take care of her, Bowie, please.”

I can hear the fear in his voice, and I have the urge to drive to North Carolina and kill the fucker who put it there.  “I will man, promise.”

Without saying goodbye, he hangs up.  I pull the phone away from my ear and shove it into my pocket.  Walking over to the dresser, I stub out my cigarette in the ashtray and turn to the door.  I only make it a few steps before Domino walks out of the bathroom, covered in only a towel.  She lets it drop, before walking over to me and laying her hand on my chest. 

“You’re not running off, are you?  I thought we had plans.” She says, as her hand makes its way down to my jean covered cock.

I look across the room at the clock and see that it’s still early, I don’t need to be at chapel for a while.  Looking back at her, I slap her bare ass.  “I’m not going anywhere, until I’m finished with you.”

Saying Goodbye to Me

Laura

I watch as my car plummets into the Catawba River, while I force my legs to stay upright.  The splash is so fierce it causes droplets of water to reach me on the bank, far away from the impact. I stare at the bubbles popping up in the river as it sinks deeper into its watery grave. When it finally disappears, fear snakes its way through my chest, making it nearly impossible to breathe.  I can’t believe I’m doing this, faking my own death. 

“Come on, Laura.  We have to get you to Bowie.” Jeremy pants out, running down the bank of the river. 

I can hear the urgency in his voice, but I just can’t seem to take my eyes off the ripples in the water.  It seems too simple, too easy.  Could everything be fixed with a car crash, something that happens every day?

“Sis, you need to hurry up.” He calls out. 

This grabs my attention; it is the first time he has called me Sis in years.  I jerk my eyes toward him and see the panic on his face.  “I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head, when he finally steps beside me.  “No worries, we just got to hit the road now.”

Without responding, I look back to the water and pull my wedding set from my finger.  I stare at the sparkling diamond for the briefest of moments, before tossing it into the churning river.  I watch as the last part of my old life disappears with an anti-climactic plop.  Unlike my car, the rings don’t cause a splash.  Instead, they sink into the abyss without notice.

I turn back to him and say, “I’m ready.”

“I know this has to be hard on you, but there’s no other way.” He says as he stares into my eyes.

It is hard, terrifying, but I would never admit it to him.  Jeremy is putting his life on the line for me, Mom’s too.  If Marcus ever finds out the truth, everyone will pay. “I’m okay.  Let’s just go.”

He grabs my hand and leads me to his truck, which is hidden in the brush surrounding the river bank.  Just as we climb inside, a car tops the bridge.  I hear the screeching sounds of brakes as it comes to a stop.  We watch from our hiding spot as a woman gets out and looks at the mangled railing.  She quickly pulls out her phone and starts to talk. 

“They’ll tell her to move off the bridge, to keep from causing another accident.  As soon as she gets back in the car, we’ll head out.”

I look over to Jeremy and nod.  “Okay.”

This was all his idea: faking my death and, running away to Kentucky; it was the only thing he could think of to get me free and save Mom at the same time.  If Marcus thought I was dead, he would never fire Dad. Firing his wife’s deadbeat father wouldn’t be considered business savvy, but how could he explain terminating his dead wife’s parent? It would be uncouth, something Marcus strives to never be.

We sit in silence for a moment before the woman does exactly what Jeremy said she would.  As soon as she starts to drive to the other side of the bridge, he starts up the truck and heads in the opposite direction.  I watch the scenery, as we head toward my new life.

My nerves are getting the best of me; my mind is filled with what ifs… what happens if Marcus finds out the truth?  Will Jeremy lose his job? Will my Dad get fired? Most importantly, how will my make-believe death affect Mom’s health?

After more than thirty minutes of silence, I’ve had enough. I turn my head to look at my brother and start to voice my worries.  “I’m worried about Mom.  How is she going to take this? I know she may not get to see me often, but thinking I’m dead is something completely different.  It could kill her.”

His body shifts nervously in his seat.  He looks at me for a second, before moving his eyes back to the road. I watch him, hoping that he will say something to ease my mind, but he never responds. Something in the way he is holding his body taut tells me that he is not telling me everything.  Needing to know what is going on, I ask my question again.  “Do you think she will be okay?”

Finally, he answers.  “Mom knows what’s going on; she’ll be fine.”

Shock reverberates through my body.  “She knows?”

He nods, not looking toward me.  “I had to tell her and Dad.  They deserved to know what you’ve done for the family.”

Oh my God!  I can’t believe this.  “I didn’t want them to know, ever.”

“They needed to be told what was going on.  It was breaking their hearts thinking you didn’t want anything to do with them,” He says, his fists tightening on the steering wheel.

“I went to see them as much as I could,” I say, defending myself. 

Over the years, my visits have become few and far between.  Sometimes, I would only be allowed to go see them every few months.  Last year, Marcus kept me from them for nearly six months.  He wanted me to have a chin reduction, claiming mine was not as round as Gwendolyn’s, but I refused.  My punishment was being kept away from my parents.  I held out until my mother was put in ICU, after an adverse reaction to dialysis. 

“I know you did and now they do too.”

“But...” I start, stopping when I realize I don’t know how to explain my feelings. 

He finishes for me, knowing what’s going through my head.  “You didn’t want Mom and Dad to know what you’ve been through for them, but I’m telling you the truth, it’s a hell of a lot better than thinking their daughter didn’t give a shit about them.”

I nod, not wanting to talk about it anymore.  Looking back out the window, my mind starts racing again.  Marcus will be home from work soon, and he will know something is wrong.  Not once, in ten years, have I not been there when he walked through the door. I can’t even imagine what he’ll do.  I can only hope he won’t cause any trouble for my parents.

“I’ll drop you off at the bus station then head back to the city.  Hopefully, I’ll be home before they realize it’s your car,” Jeremy says, breaking the short silence.

I nod again, wondering how to tell him how grateful I am.  How can I thank him for putting himself on the line for me?  I’m not sure what would happen to him if the truth comes out, but I doubt he’d have his job much longer.  Cops don’t stage deaths and keep their badges; that much I know.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

He hesitates before answering.  “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.”

Knowing he is shutting me out, I turn to look out the window again.  I’m lost in thoughts of my future, one without my family in it.  Will Jeremy’s friend, Bowie, really help me?  Why would he, when he doesn’t even know me?  I’ve heard a million stories about him through the years, at least when I was still allowed to speak with my brother.  I know he was a good soldier, a good friend to Jeremy, but not much else.